Breaking the Dragon’s JawBy Walter J. BoyneNorth Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa Bridge was a critical but seemingly invincible target. It took years of bravery, innovation, and technological advances to finally take it out.

Etchberger, Medal of HonorBy John T. CorrellWith the other members of his team dead or wounded, Etchberger held the enemy at bay with his M-16 rifle.

A Habit of HeroismBy John T. CorrellWith 200 combat missions as a PJ in Vietnam, Duane Hackney was the most decorated airman in the Air Force.The Mayaguez RescueBy George M. Watson, Jr.On Cambodia’s Koh Tang in 1975, US forces fought the last battle of the Southeast Asia War.Ring of RemembranceBy Walter J. BoyneAfter 42 years, this token of Patrick Wynne’s academy days came home at last.Arc LightBy John T. CorrellThe B-52s fought their war in Vietnam without ever leaving SAC.The Teaball TacticBy Walter J. BoyneLate in the Vietnam War, a top-secret program gave US pilots an edge in air combat.The Robin Olds FactorBy Walter J. BoyneThe famous ace influenced generations of pilots, and he always led from the front.TetBy John T. CorrellNorth Vietnam’s 1968 offensive failed, but public opinion converted it into a defeat for the United States.The In-Country WarBy John T. CorrellIn South Vietnam, airpower was subordinated to a ground strategy—and the ground strategy didn’t work.Bird Dog's Last BattleBy John T. CorrellHilliard Wilbanks swept low over the advancing enemy, firing out the side window with his M-16 rifle.The Pentagon PapersBy John T. CorrellA secret study of the Vietnam War set off an incredible sequence of events.Lavelle, Nixon, and the White House TapesBy Aloysius Casey and Patrick CaseyTape recordings from the Nixon White House shed new light on an old controversy.LavelleBy John T. CorrellUnauthorized air strikes in North Vietnam, depicted as “protective reaction” missions, led to his ouster as commander of 7th Air Force.Flak TrapBy John T. CorrellFor 17 hours, Capt. Gerald Young led the North Vietnamese through the jungle and away from the crash site.Barrel RollBy John T. CorrellIn 1962, the United States began a “secret war” in Laos. The operation wasn’t revealed until 1970, by which time it consumed half of all US attack sorties in Southeast Asia.A Day in the Life of the Misty FACsBy Rick Newman and Don ShepperdFinding and marking targets was dangerous business, as Charlie Neel and Guy Gruters learned firsthand.The Fall of Lima Site 85By John T. CorrellThe radar site was deep in enemy territory. The assumption was that it was impossible for attackers to climb the sheer face of the mountain.Determination of a SandyBy John T. CorrellBadly burned when an explosion set his cockpit afire, Bill Jones refused to quit the mission.Calculated Courage at Thai NguyenBy John T. CorrellMerlyn Dethlefsen pressed the attack on the SAM sites through the heaviest flak ever seen in North Vietnam.The Strength of Bud DayBy John T. CorrellDespite his injuries, he escaped from North Vietnam, evaded capture for 12 days, and almost made it back to a US base.Farm GateBy Darrell WhitcombIn 1961, the Air Force took its first step into a very long war.The Ho Chi Minh TrailBy John T. CorrellThe outcome of the war depended on the infiltration of troops, weapons, and supplies through Laos into South Vietnam.Rescue at Kham DucBy John T. CorrellJoe Jackson put the C-123 into a steep dive toward the embattled airstrip, where three airmen had been left behind.Full DayBy John T. CorrellOver the Red River delta, Leo Thorsness “took on most of North Vietnam all by himself.”20 Seconds Over Long BinhBy John T. CorrellA1C John Levitow, badly wounded, threw himself on the burning flare and dragged it to the cargo door—saving the entire crew of Spooky 71.Rolling ThunderBy John T. CorrellIt was our best chance to knock North Vietnam out of the war, but it was doomed to failure.Disunity of CommandBy John T. CorrellUnity of command—a long-held principle of war—was an early casualty in Vietnam.Impossible Odds in SAM-7 AlleyBy John T. CorrellNo pilot had ever survived an OV-10 ditching, but unless Steve Bennett tried it, his backseater would have no chance.Igloo WhiteBy John T. CorrellIt began as “the McNamara Line” across Vietnam. It led to the seeding of the Ho Chi Minh Trail by air with 20,000 sensors.Into the Valley of FireBy John T. CorrellIf Bernie Fisher went into the airstrip at A Shau, his chances of coming out again would not be good.The Vietnam War AlmanacBy John T. CorrellThis almanac collects the numbers, dates, and key facts about the USAF experience in Southeast Asia.Dien Bien PhuBy Rebecca GrantThe great 1954 battle sucked US airmen into Indochina and helped set the stage for the Vietnam War.The Courage of Lance SijanBy John T. CorrellThe ordeal in the jungle didn’t break him. Neither did his North Vietnamese captors.Pitsenbarger, Medal of HonorBy John T. CorrellAt long last, the actions of the heroic PJ are fully recognized.Mule TrainBy Walter J. BoyneThe airplanes were slow and ugly and they leaked, but they were a lifeline for the Vietnamese ground forces.The Misty FACs ReturnBy Richard J. NewmanSix fighter pilots went to see again the rugged backcountry in Vietnam where they had once flown and fought.Ranch HandBy Walter J. BoyneEven then, the defoliation missions over Vietnam were controversial.The Fall of SaigonBy Walter J. BoyneTwenty-five years ago this month, the Vietnam War came to an end with bewildering speed.Route Pack 6By Walter J. BoyneIt was the most dangerous of the "Route Packages," taking airmen into the deadly defenses around Hanoi.Honor BoundBy Stewart M. PowellA Pentagon study provides new details--about bravery, torture, and endurance--on the experience of American POWs in Vietnam.The Plain of JarsBy Walter J. BoyneThe "secret" war in Laos was a sideshow to the main war in Vietnam--and the crossroads of it lay here.MiG SweepBy Walter J. BoyneThe North Vietnamese thought they were attacking bomb-laden F-105s. What they ran into was Robin Olds and the Wolfpack, flying Phantom F-4s.The Easter HaltBy Walter J. BoyneIn the spring of 1972, a North Vietnamese invasion was stopped and then turned back by US airpower.Airpower at Khe SanhBy Walter J. BoyneThe North Vietnamese thought it was Dien Bien Phu all over again. They thought wrong.The Young Tigers and Their FriendsBy Walter J. BoyneSometimes the tanker crews bent the rules to ensure that strike aircraft, critically low on fuel, made it home.When the POWs Came HomeTwenty-five years ago this month, 332 Air Force POWs held by Communists in Southeast Asia left their prison cells, boarded USAF transports, and returned home from the war.Dereliction of DutyThe author of a blockbuster book says the Vietnam War was lost in Washington before the US armed forces were fully deployed and committed.Linebacker IIBy Walter J. BoyneNot since World War II had bombers been employed in an operation of this scope. After 11 days of bombing, Hanoi was ready for peace negotiations.Air War VietnamFrom before Dien Bien Phu to the fall of Saigon, USAF played a major role in the fight against the forces of Ho Chi Minh.Vietnam War ScrapbookCompiled by John T. Correll and Erica MilkovichThese snapshots from the albums of Air Force Association members recall faces and places from the long conflict in Southeast Asia.The Son Tay RaidBy C.V. GlinesTwenty-five years ago this month, US forces mounted a POW rescue mission deep into North Vietnam.The Lessons of VietnamBy Gen. T. R. Milton, USAF (Ret.)It has been a decade since the United States signed the Paris Peace Accords. That agreement signaled the American withdrawal from Vietnam. It did not end the influence of that undeclared war on this nation.The Forgotten Americans of the Vietnam WarBy Louis R. StockstillPrisoners of War—A Special ReportThe Air War in VietnamA PictorialOperating over some of the world's worst terrain, where it's a tough job just to find the enemy, a small, select force of pilots, using a variety of aging equipment, defends the free-world frontier.

Circulation audited by BPA Worldwide.
airforcemag.com material is under copyright by the Air Force Association. All rights reserved.
The Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, Va., 22209-1198